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i am still alive in love.
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Jun 20, 2016 21:01:56 GMT
Post by deads on Jun 20, 2016 21:01:56 GMT
Judgement has come to the Initiative, which means Burning Man , empowered by the Phoenix, has come to the Initiative. It's probably not a great time to be at the Initiative, but no one ever said being a hero was child's play.It's also probably a good bet that the shining, marble walls of the Compound are going to be a little charred by the end of all this. This is an event thread meant for 2-3 to characters to fight Burned Man. Please wait for the Phoenix-empowered opponent to post first and set the stage, and then jump in. General plotting for the Phoenix fights can be found here, and feel free to Skype and/or PM your thread-mates to discuss how the fight goes. Staff will step in if necessary. |
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- D rank Villain
- 16 posts
- renown
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The day of reckoning is here.
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Jun 20, 2016 22:55:59 GMT
Post by Burning Man on Jun 20, 2016 22:55:59 GMT
Power has a price. It always did. Joshua discovered that when he had set out to work under the Phoenix Force... It had promised so much. Freedom. An utopia trough the worst of means. He didn't truly care for that utopia too much. Regimes came and went, just as storms came and went. What he wanted was much more selfish, he realized. What he wanted was the end of heroes. Ending an age would place him in the history books... But that was not his goal. He just wanted to help people. Too many had died to these heroes. Poor Carlos. Joshua Sawyer. And hundreds of others as well.
But this price he was not ready to pay. The flames soared his body, yet he felt no pain. They were purple in nature, soaring trough his bandages and into his flesh. While he felt no pain from them thanks to the willpower enhancements provided to him, they were far too grim of a reminder on what he had chosen to do. Beneath the flames, the man could feel. He could feel too much regret. Just what was he doing. He clutched down upon the small bomb in his palm. The psychic fire didn't cause an explosion either. It'd only hurt if he wished for it to. The Phoenix Force was a mistake. Hell, the Phoenix Force itself already probably knew that Joshua was regretting this decision. The moment it lit him on fire again.
The fire burned in his eyes. Now was the time. The backpack was ready. The explosives on his belt were ready. Every explosive he had managed to gather was there. Everything was ready for the final show. He dug out a small picture of his wife, and their beautiful daughter for one last showing, before crunching it in his bandaged palm. When he opened it, there was nothing but ash that was caught into the wind. It was a beautiful evening. That is until a message ran in the minds of everyone in the general area of the compound.
"I would suggest for you all to move away. There will be a group of explosions in this area. Civilians, take your leave -now-." To hell if the Phoenix Force minded. To hell with that. To hell with him especially. He took onto a satchel charge and spun it 'round and 'round, before then chucking it out against a wall. One blink and the explosion rung across the whole compound. A large hole had been blown into the wall of the leftmost building. Burned man stepped inside and looked about. "Please. Leave now."
He drew out another satchel charge, spinning it around. "I do not want to hurt civilians."
The ringing of explosions continued. A general alert was sent to all heroes available: A burning man had attacked the compound, already blowing trough one building with explosives that didn't apparently need anything to set them off. Threat level was high.
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Jun 22, 2016 10:26:31 GMT
via mobile
Post by G. Rush on Jun 22, 2016 10:26:31 GMT
He wasn't into work really. If it felt like a bother, or a draining waste of time he simply didn't bother. This of course made many of his colleagues frustrated during battle, but sometimes he would really rather just nap than run around and exert himself. Excessive stress to the body and mind does lead to poor health after all. Alas, he would have no such luck convincing this to his superiors during real danger. If only such danger could have evaded him a couple more hours.
He was woken up to the loud sounds of an unpleasant kaboom, then another, so close that he even felt the rumble it had created. So much for a nap, but this was the worst alarm in the history of alarms, but with that noise as close as it was he knew he couldn't lie around or the sprinklers might just turn on. Yawning as he crawled out of his quarters, Rush slipped on a pair of sun glasses to shade his eyes from the onslaught of sun, and potential debris from the explosion, and headed out in his regular street clothes. The scene he stumbled upon, though the utter destruction of the blast was quite brilliant in its own way, was...very very troublesome.
He had himself levitating rapidly toward the scene, searching for the culprit of the chaos as he passed screaming civilians. "Pardon me." "Sorry." He mumbled in response to them as he swerved around and further manipulated the gravity between his feet and the ground so he could levitate further above the masses. That was when he noticed said suspicious individual. A man wrapped in bandages in public would have stood out to anyone, but the fact that he was on fire? Well, that was certainly dangerous wasn't it. Rush tucked his hands into his pockets, and flew toward the person until he was several feet away. Planting his feet to the ground, he cleared his throat, tilted his head and waved at the man nonchalantly.
"Hey there. Is there something I can help you with? Blasting holes in walls is kind of rude."
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Jun 26, 2016 12:25:30 GMT
Post by VALKYRIE on Jun 26, 2016 12:25:30 GMT
She hasn't had a voice in her head that wasn't her own for fourteen years. That's the first sign that something is wrong; the burning pain in her mind as the words sear through her mental shields and gouge themselves into the landscape.
The explosion that rocked the compound was a pretty definitive second sign, however.
Thalia makes her way through the crowd of fleeing people, directing them where she can, bypassing them where she can't. The best thing she can do for them right now is to shut this intruder down.
She takes to the air to avoid a clustered group of people making their way out of the west exit, and touches down behind the man. He's on fire; that's really the only way to describe the scorching bouquet of flames that have engulfed his body. And in front of him is--
Thalia stifles a groan. She can only hope that the kid is on his game today, although his words don't inspire confidence.
"Stand down," she says to the figure's flaming back. "This is your only warning."
She glares over his shoulder at G. Rush, trying to instill a sense of the situation's gravitas. She's pretty sure she fails.
Burning Man
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sittin' on the hood of my chevy singin'
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Jun 27, 2016 18:19:11 GMT
Post by sigma on Jun 27, 2016 18:19:11 GMT
jake’s on his feet the second he feels it in his head. he knows immediately.
to be fair, the phoenix force is at the forefront of his mind - he’s in the operations level, poring over the newest intel from texas and NC. troop movement, reports on the generals, live updates from the people on the ground, and he’s still considering moving out to one of the theatres. ops experience is maybe not going to help against an ancient god of death rampaging in his home state, more’s the pity, but he can sure as hell try to help somewhere else.
turns out the phoenix would rather bring the fight to them.
the elevators are out the second the dull noise of the explosion rumbles through the sublevels, but it’s not like he intends to ride the things - instead the doors get wrenched open, the ceiling hatch is hastily yanked off, and he’s leaping to the top of the shaft as fast as his body will allow.
he’s not the first to arrive. the man on fire, he doesn’t know straight off, but there’s a dull feeling of familiarity. he’ll work on it, whatever. valkyrie, sure, good to have at his back, but rush... not who he’d have picked, personally. whatever. he’ll work on it. already a degree of flanking, good, but it’s still not ideal. mid-range is probably the worst to be fighting this guy at, if the bombs are any indication as to general style.
trying to conceal his presence is kind of useless against someone who can broadcast psychic messages, so he steps out into the courtyard proper, coiled and ready, long fluid predator’s strides. “if you’re concerned with civilians, then you’ve probably picked the wrong weapon. i suggest you put it down.”
Burning Man
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- D rank Villain
- 16 posts
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The day of reckoning is here.
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Jun 29, 2016 11:49:11 GMT
Post by Burning Man on Jun 29, 2016 11:49:11 GMT
"Oh..." His voice was almost saddened, beneath the slowly burning flames. He didn't use his telepathy. He was almost afraid Phoenix force could track his mind. Hell, it probably was. Just in case it's little new action figure wouldn't go and betray it. Such was life for Joshua. There were no victories, there were only losses. His eyes moved from Sigma to G.Rush to... Valkyrie. His eyes rested on her for a fair bit longer. And to her he had talked about being careful with civilians. To her, he had said that heroes should end. He felt a tinge in his burning heart, telling him to stop this all. But his mind won over. Self preservation could drive a man anywhere, be it even the darkest of evils.
"I truly wish I could put these down and turn myself in." He swung one satchel charge in his hand, watching it's spinning with an almost hypnotized look in his eyes. This thing here. If he detonated it right now, would it kill him? Probably not. Phoenix Force would do some trick or such to save him from such an agonizing accident. He closed his eyes and sighed, casually lobbing the satchel charge over his shoulder, whistling just a tiny bit. If he was to do this, he should have some fun before his last supper. He pressed his open palms together, letting the fire around him burn brighter and brighter, until it was finally at it's height.
"But I think I'll burn out instead." He quickly lobbed out three balls of fire towards G.Rush. Most of them detonate when they hit the ground, spreading burning bits everywhere. While not physical, the fire would still cause burning and a sort of headache to the opponent. He detaches a grenade from his belt and throws it toward's Sigma, spreading some fire behind him. For all he knew Valkyrie could just fly above those, but at the very least they should slow her down. If the satchel charge didn't do that already.
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Post by G. Rush on Jun 30, 2016 0:19:00 GMT
His eyes lifted from the Burning Man to Valkyrie as she arrived. It surprised him to see her honestly. An Rank A Superhero being summoned to something like this. There wasn't something more dire on her schedule? Her little glares doing nothing to dent his tired demeanor, Rush waved at her then too before stuffing said hand into his pocket. It wasn't his goal here to appeal to her sense of urgency. He was aware of the situation, and honestly he didn't think this was going to take more than thirty minutes tops to take care of. The sooner the better honestly. He wanted to go back to his nap. As if the gods had blessed him with another tiresome adult to help hurry things along, he heard the sound of a man's voice, one in which he didn't really acknowledge. His eyes were transfixed on the Burning Man. His attitude, his overall presence, it was strange. There was just something off about him, as if that wasn't already quite obvious in the fact that he was vandalizing Initiative property, but for some reason Rush felt a sliver of sympathy for him as he spoke. Turn himself in, burn out, these weren't statements of someone willing execution to the masses indiscriminately. So why was he here? Such a question couldn't be asked before Rush had three balls of fire coming at him. He rooted his feet to the ground instinctively, raising an arm as he to shield his face. Bits of fire spit at his arm before he got a transparent barrier of gravity to shield himself from the rest of the onslaught. His reaction time was slower than usual, that he noted. He was still waking up, it wasn't his fault, but with his right arm now stinging from the burn he was sure he'd received, he was rightly waking up now. Uprooting his feet from the Earth, he hovered a few feet from the ground, pushing himself back and away from the fire that he had shielded himself from so he could see, eyes searching for Valkyrie and the man he'd heard a moment ago. Thanks to the bright flash of the flames his head was throbbing now, distracting him from the burn at least. VALKYRIE
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Jun 30, 2016 22:28:52 GMT
Post by VALKYRIE on Jun 30, 2016 22:28:52 GMT
For her, the satchel charge is child's play. For the rest of the building, not so much. Thalia throws herself at the bomb, curling her body around it and letting her shields take the brunt of the explosion so the rest of the walls don't come down on them. She closes her eyes against the light, feels the concussive impact almost like a dream, something that's already sliding away from her as soon as she's registering what it is.
She misses most of what happens next--the attack on Rush and Sigma--unfolding herself just in time to meet the flames. She takes to the air just as the rush of fire sweeps over where she was lying and then she does what she does best: drops out of the sky, aiming to collide with Burned--well, currently Burning--Man. She's walked through fire before; she's confident that her TK shields will protect her from the flames around him.
Maybe she shouldn't be.
sigma
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sittin' on the hood of my chevy singin'
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Post by sigma on Jul 1, 2016 0:15:05 GMT
nice sob story. an attack is an attack, an enemy is an enemy, and enemies get put down.
his mind is in overdrive - he knows his comrades' records like his own. rush wouldn’t be his first pick for most things, but this is a rare situation where the kid is basically perfect if he can hit the notes. containment is a problem, thalia probably can’t, but even momentary interruption will at least give her a chance to strike safely, and -
frag.
he lunges forward and slaps the grenade away, as much force in it as he can muster to give it clearing distance, but the fire blasts knock him pitching back, and he has to break-fall and roll back to his feet. it’s just disorienting enough that he loses track of rush for a moment -
the kid needs to learn how to dodge, jesus christ -
but he can get his feet under him enough that he can dash, grabbing the younger man’s arm to yank him close. “your black holes,” he murmurs urgently, hurriedly, “will restrict the oxygen for the fire and explosives. might damp it down enough for valkyrie to land solid hits. now.”
it takes a second and he’s gone again, circling, timing his lunge for the belt of explosives with the presence of valkyrie’s meteoric dive. with any luck, at least one of them will manage something.
Burning Man
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- D rank Villain
- 16 posts
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The day of reckoning is here.
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Post by Burning Man on Jul 3, 2016 11:52:24 GMT
He oomphs and feels Valkyrie crash against his body. The fire doesn't burn her, mostly because his mental focus is disturbed for a second. He crashes against the floor, feeling a hand snatch away his explosives belt. He still had his backpack, however. That would do for now. He rolled on the floor, grumbling as Valkyrie pressed against him. This woman wanted to stop him, that was clear. His eyes landed on hers. He hated her so much, he did. He hated all heroes so damn much. That rage bubbled within him, driving him over the edge multiple times, until he let out a groan of anger and hatred, the fire around him blazing up in an intense heat that would cause intense headaches, if they got trough her TK shields.
While this happened, his eyes wandered from her to the explosives belt being held by Sigma. Grenades dangled from it. Some small pipe bombs. A few molotovs. He remembered each explosive like a child. But he had a child besides that. A sweet daughter. He was doing this so that she could grow up in a world without caped freaks fighting some damn villains. This world could do without them. And that was what he was fighting for. A safer world to grow up in. He closed his eyes. The flames around him stopped hurting just for a second. His flesh stopped searing.
And he proceeded to activate every damn explosive on that belt that was taken away, mentally of course. Nice of Phoenix Force to give some USEFUL powers.
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Post by G. Rush on Jul 4, 2016 20:56:28 GMT
The smoke from inside was starting to make his lungs feel a bit constricted, then he heard shattered glass and another boom. He hadn't noticed the grenade that had been tossed at Sigma while dealing with his own dilemma, but he certainly heard it. He glanced over to try and see how bad the smoke and flames were, just as the man who had tossed it took hold of his arm. Rush's feet touched down to the floor as he listened, oh how uncomfortable it was for the man to touch him there but he didn't much complain but a slight wince. He knew before it had been mentioned that he could use his ability to attempt to stifle the smoke and flames, but to use black holes in confined spaces had given him reason for caution and pause. It was dangerous, with the glass and debris, he didn't exactly want to hurt Val or Sigma, even if they looked like they might be able to handle it. His urgency wasn't ignored, and as Sigma left him he watched as Valkyrie was now on the floor with the burning man. For someone who didn't show his emotions, in that moment he was definitely worried. It got him into action. Keeping himself at a distance away from the three, Rush formed several black holes in the ceiling, roughly four feet in diameter each. They spiraled slowly, and began to pull in traces of the smoke, debris, and oxygen in the room. He closed his eyes, so he could focus without distraction, and built walls of gravity against those of the building in an attempt to keep all of it contained at the very least. If there was another explosion, it wouldn't burst fire smoke or debris outside, he'd do his best to keep it within even if the three heroes did get hurt. It was there job to keep the public safe after all, no matter the risk. Now that he had his measures in action, Rush lifted his lids slowly, a wind from his black holes whipping steadily in the space. He heard a click among all other noise, and as his eyes fell on the belt in Sigma's hand he knew where it had come from. How? If all of those bombs went off at once. Suddenly the smaller black holes became one massive being above them. The wind in the space now enough to even pull on furniture, the four of them. It took much energy out of him in the moment, but he was working in reflexes. "Sigma, throw it." He demanded, wavering where he stood as his feet hovered off the ground until he forced the gravity for the four persons in the room to become heavy enough to keep them grounded. VALKYRIE
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Post by VALKYRIE on Jul 4, 2016 22:59:07 GMT
The flames should not be a problem, but they are. She pulls back her fist to punch him in the face, but her blow never lands. The fire twists around her shields, pours through them like they aren't even there, and she stumbles backwards off of him, choking down a scream as her forearms go up in a crackling blaze, the smell of burnt flesh rancid in the air and oh god oh god it hurts, her hair whipping around her face as the gravity of the room alters and shifts.
It's all taken less than a moment, but her hands are charred and ruined. Bone peeks through the blackened, crumpled skin. But she can't heal it. There's no time to heal it. Her mind roars like a furnace without a single coherent thought beyond the pain, but her body operates on a level deeper than instinct and Thalia raises her palms to unleash a steady barrage of telekinetic blasts at Burning Man.
sigma
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sittin' on the hood of my chevy singin'
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Post by sigma on Jul 5, 2016 11:28:54 GMT
the snatch works but something is wrong. the sense of it slams into him as he fights to get his feet under him, to keep from slamming headlong into the wall. he’s not wearing proper gear, he’s off-balance fighting in just civvies. nothing feels sturdy enough, and his t-shirt has holes singed in it already.
something is really wrong.
it’s not what rush is doing because the kid has his setup done, coordinated well, btu when he looks over at valkyrie he realises. her hands, shit, how, and when he glances up to the burning man he meets the gaze for an instant that seems to stretch.
he has the strange sense that he feels the detonators all click simultaneously.
he’s moving at the instant of rush’s shout, already whipping the belt in an arc toward the vacuum, but the second it leaves his hand he feels the heat blossom over his hand, his arm, and he has to hit the deck because there’s nothing else he can do. jake’s entire field of vision is white, dazzled, landing in a heavy ball with his left arm less a few layers of epidermis.
the breath knocked out of him, jake’s mind is flashing scenarios at him like a strobe. thalia’s shields are supposed to - how are they going to contain - there’s still that pack of charges -
he gathers himself together, ignoring the pain, readying himself for another charge.
if he has to kill their attacker, jake will do it without hesitation.
he rushes the burning man from behind, colliding with his waist in a low tackle. he needs to neutralise the backpack, and now.
Burning Man
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Jul 15, 2016 10:30:29 GMT
Post by MURDOC on Jul 15, 2016 10:30:29 GMT
it is the burning rage that is his undoing, drawing attention to himself, a beacon in the darkness. the psionic eye is turned to him, and it witnesses how this flesh-host squanders the gifts it has been given for this fight, so it pries right into it and plucks out the pilot. with a small cry, joshua sawyer is burned away, the last thing on his mind is his family awash in the flames that fill his vision. the tackle hits, the telekinetic blasts hit, and there is a rag doll sensation as the body lacks a moment of consciousness. the arms flail in a sickening manner as sigma pushes him down easily - too easily - and all at once it erupts and flares. the phoenix force shoves out entirely with a strong telekinetic force, aiming to free itself of any holds, any momentary attacks, and stands tall. where there were once human eyes now stand eternally burning pits, and from where his mouth would be spews fire and words that dont seem to be spoken, but heard within everyone's minds. i am here. i am always here. and soon, i will be the only one here. the hand of the burning man reaches towards rush's position, and with a swipe, a wave of flames materialize and wash toward him; a bright attack of blues and white-hot flames. he continues the motion, but for the soldier he has better plans; in fact, the entire contents of his backpack would do, and with a telekinetic display a mass of c-4 charges fly up and circle him for the moment before launching themselves at sigma. each one is primed for contact. the final problem to deal with is the other psychic, and a message displays in her mind alone, WEAK, and burning man's physical form rushes her, rushes at her, intending contact, intending to use supernatural flames coating his entire arm to grasp at her mind and send a pure mental blast from physical contact; projecting a landscape of hellfire right into her vision, if he can touch her, if he can blast into her. the phoenix force doesn't want any opposition any more.
i'm taking over for the burning man due to posting delays and general absence. the burning man is gone; phoenix force has consumed him entirely. take him out, boys. G. Rush VALKYRIE sigma |
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Jul 15, 2016 11:30:37 GMT
Post by G. Rush on Jul 15, 2016 11:30:37 GMT
Jakob flinched as the bombs erupted above their heads before being swallowed by the mass of black. It circled and consumed every last bit of light from the bombs, the impact forcing Rush to crouch further down, flinching as it hit her personal barriers but thanks to them it helped shield from most of the pressure. He couldn't say the same for Sigma as he saw the man's body knock back.
His eyes flitted to Valkyrie then, hearing the sound of a thud, crashing as she fired a psychic blast at the man ablaze. All of this wasn't looking good for them, her hands looks severely damaged, Rush wasn't so sure how long he could contain a black hole this large, and keep the building from caving into itself. It was beginning to steal any energy he had to even keep himself grounded, but such concerns he kept to himself, merely forced to watch in a mild daze as Sigma went at the man.
Wasn't anyone else going to show up? Couldn't there possibly another A rank hero to help? Clearly he wasn't enough. Rush felt utterly useless. Then, in the midst of his vision blurring, white dots blinding his view as he stared at the fuzzy image of Sigma and the burning man on the grown, he heard a voice in his head. Eerie, unsettling, when he blinked his heart sunk into the pit of his stomach at the sight of bright blue and white flames that then engulfed his view.
Weakly he'd held out a hand, projecting a gravitational barrier around himself but one that he was only able to hold for a second before it was broken. He felt fire lick at his arms, the smell of his burning clothes before he collapsed. Whatever glass he'd protected with his barriers was crushed, breaking outward, as his black hole now mostly unattended spiraled angrily above them. Pulling on them to be swallowed up by the mass above them, Jakob struggled to keep conscious just to keep them grounded.
VALKYRIE
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